Social pathways for Ebola Virus Disease in rural Sierra Leone, and some implications for containment

The current outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in Upper West Africa is the largest ever recorded. Molecular evidence suggests spread has been almost exclusively through human-to-human contact. Social factors are thus clearly important to understand the epidemic and ways in which it might be stopped, but these factors have so far been little analyzed. The present paper focuses on Sierra Leone, and provides cross sectional data on the least understood part of the epidemic-the largely undocumented spread of Ebola in rural areas. Various forms of social networking in rural communities and their relevance for understanding pathways of transmission are described. Particular attention is paid to the relationship between marriage, funerals and land tenure. Funerals are known to be a high-risk factor for infection. It is suggested that more than a shift in awareness of risks will be needed to change local patterns of behavior, especially in regard to funerals, since these are central to the consolidation of community ties. A concluding discussion relates the information presented to plans for halting the disease. Local consultation and access are seen as major challenges to be addressed

Global Pattern Search at Scale

In recent years, data collection has far outpaced the tools for data analysis in the area of non-traditional GEOINT analysis. Traditional tools are designed to analyze small-scale numerical data, but there are few good interactive tools for processing large amounts of unstructured data such as raw text. In addition to the complexities of data processing, presenting the data in a way that is meaningful to the end user poses another challenge. In our work, we focused on analyzing a corpus of 35,000 news articles and creating an interactive geovisualization tool to reveal patterns to human analysts. Our comprehensive tool, Global Pattern Search at Scale (GPSS), addresses three major problems in data analysis: free text analysis, high volumes of data, and interactive visualization. GPSS uses an Accumulo database for high-volume data storage, and a matrix of word counts and event detection algorithms to process the free text. For visualization, the tool displays an interactive web application to the user, featuring a map overlaid with document clusters and events, search and filtering options, a timeline, and a word cloud. In addition, the GPSS tool can be easily adapted to process and understand other large free-text datasets

Gonadal function in males after chemotherapy for early-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma treated in four subsequent trials by the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer: EORTC Lymphoma Group and the Groupe d'Etude des Lymphomes de l'Adulte.

Contains fulltext : 51705.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)PURPOSE: To analyze fertility in male patients treated with various combinations of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, with or without alkylating agents, or with radiotherapy alone for Hodgkin's lymphoma. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) levels were measured in patients with early-stage upper-diaphragmatic disease enrolled in four European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) trials (H6-H9). Median follow-up after therapy was 32 months. Patients with FSH measurement at least 12 months after end of treatment (n = 355) were selected to assess post-treatment fertility. Patients with FSH measurement 0 to 9 months after therapy (n = 349) were selected to analyze fertility recovery; of these, patients with elevated FSH (> 10 U/L; n = 101) were followed until recovery. Factors predictive for therapy-related infertility were assessed by logistic regression. RESULTS: The proportion of elevated FSH was 3% and 8% in patients treated with radiotherapy only or with nonalkylating chemotherapy (doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, dacarbazine [ABVD], epirubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, prednisone [EBVP]); it was 60% (P < .001) after chemotherapy containing alkylating agents (mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone [MOPP], MOPP/doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine [ABV], bleomycin, etoposide, doxorubicin, cyclophosphamide, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone [BEACOPP]). After a median time of 19 months, recovery of fertility occurred in 82% of patients treated without alkylating chemotherapy. This proportion was 30%, statistically (P < .001) lower in those treated with alkylating chemotherapy, and median time to recovery was 27 months. The post-treatment proportion of elevated FSH increased significantly (P < .001) with the dose of alkylating chemotherapy administered, and recovery was less frequent and slower after higher doses. Age more than 50 years and stage II disease also contributed to poor outcome. CONCLUSION: Fertility can be secured after nonalkylating chemotherapy for Hodgkin's lymphoma. In contrast, alkylating chemotherapy has a dismal effect, even after a limited number of cycles

Phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives to promote growth and enhance host health

There are heightened concerns globally on emerging drug-resistant superbugs and the lack of new antibiotics for treating human and animal diseases. For the agricultural industry, there is an urgent need to develop strategies to replace antibiotics for food-producing animals, especially poultry and livestock. The 2nd International Symposium on Alternatives to Antibiotics was held at the World Organization for Animal Health in Paris, France, December 12-15, 2016 to discuss recent scientific developments on strategic antibiotic-free management plans, to evaluate regional differences in policies regarding the reduction of antibiotics in animal agriculture and to develop antibiotic alternatives to combat the global increase in antibiotic resistance. More than 270 participants from academia, government research institutions, regulatory agencies, and private animal industries from >25 different countries came together to discuss recent research and promising novel technologies that could provide alternatives to antibiotics for use in animal health and production; assess challenges associated with their commercialization; and devise actionable strategies to facilitate the development of alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters (AGPs) without hampering animal production. The 3-day meeting consisted of four scientific sessions including vaccines, microbial products, phytochemicals, immune-related products, and innovative drugs, chemicals and enzymes, followed by the last session on regulation and funding. Each session was followed by an expert panel discussion that included industry representatives and session speakers. The session on phytochemicals included talks describing recent research achievements, with examples of successful agricultural use of various phytochemicals as antibiotic alternatives and their mode of action in major agricultural animals (poultry, swine and ruminants). Scientists from industry and academia and government research institutes shared their experience in developing and applying potential antibiotic-alternative phytochemicals commercially to reduce AGPs and to develop a sustainable animal production system in the absence of antibiotics.Fil: Lillehoj, Hyun. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Liu, Yanhong. University of California; Estados UnidosFil: Calsamiglia, Sergio. Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Fernandez Miyakawa, Mariano Enrique. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Instituto Nacional de Tecnología Agropecuaria. Centro de Investigación en Ciencias Veterinarias y Agronómicas. Instituto de Patobiología; ArgentinaFil: Chi, Fang. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Cravens, Ron L.. Amlan International; Estados UnidosFil: Oh, Sungtaek. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; ArgentinaFil: Gay, Cyril G.. United States Department of Agriculture. Agricultural Research Service; Argentin

Gemcitabine, cisplatin and methylprednisolone (GEM-P) is an effective salvage regimen in patients with relapsed and refractory lymphoma

There is currently no standard salvage chemotherapy regimen in relapsed and refractory lymphoma. Gemcitabine is a novel nucleoside analogue, which acts synergistically with cisplatin both in vitro and in clinical studies. We evaluated the combination of gemcitabine, cisplatin and methylprednisolone (GEM-P) in 41 heavily pretreated patients with relapsed and refractory Hodgkin's and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. The best-achieved response rate (RR) was 79% (95% CI 64–91), with a complete RR of 21%. In patients with chemo-resistant disease, the RR was 63%. Myelosuppression was the main toxicity, the incidence of Grade 3 or 4 anaemia, neutropenia and thrombocytopenia was 17.1, 61.0 and 53.7% respectively. Only one patient had neutropenic sepsis and none of the patients suffered from haemorrhage. Grade 3 or 4 nonhaematological toxicity was minimal and stem cell mobilisation was not inhibited. GEM-P is an effective salvage regimen and its use prior to autologous stem cell transplant warrants further investigation

Association of Killer Cell Immunoglobulin-Like Receptor Genes with Hodgkin's Lymphoma in a Familial Study

BACKGROUND: Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is the major environmental factor associated with Hodgkin's lymphoma (HL), a common lymphoma in young adults. Natural killer (NK) cells are key actors of the innate immune response against viruses. The regulation of NK cell function involves activating and inhibitory Killer cell Immunoglobulin-like receptors (KIRs), which are expressed in variable numbers on NK cells. Various viral and virus-related malignant disorders have been associated with the presence/absence of certain KIR genes in case/control studies. We investigated the role of the KIR cluster in HL in a family-based association study. METHODOLOGY: We included 90 families with 90 HL index cases (age 16–35 years) and 255 first-degree relatives (parents and siblings). We developed a procedure for reconstructing full genotypic information (number of gene copies) at each KIR locus from the standard KIR gene content. Out of the 90 collected families, 84 were informative and suitable for further analysis. An association study was then carried out with specific family-based analysis methods on these 84 families. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Five KIR genes in strong linkage disequilibrium were found significantly associated with HL. Refined haplotype analysis showed that the association was supported by a dominant protective effect of KIR3DS1 and/or KIR2DS1, both of which are activating receptors. The odds ratios for developing HL in subjects with at least one copy of KIR3DS1 or KIR2DS1 with respect to subjects with neither of these genes were 0.44[95% confidence interval 0.23–0.85] and 0.42[0.21–0.85], respectively. No significant association was found in a tentative replication case/control study of 68 HL cases (age 18–71 years). In the familial study, the protective effect of KIR3DS1/KIR2DS1 tended to be stronger in HL patients with detectable EBV in blood or tumour cells. CONCLUSIONS: This work defines a template for family-based association studies based on full genotypic information for the KIR cluster, and provides the first evidence that activating KIRs can have a protective role in HL